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Effects of the Flood of 1993 on the Chemical Characteristics of Bed Sediments in the Upper Mississippi River

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Abstract

Concentrations of pollutants stored in the surficial bed sediments in the navigation pools of the Upper Mississippi River showed a general decrease after the record flood of 1993. Percent clay and total organic carbon in the surficial sediments decreased as a result of an increase in the proportion of coarser sediment. Decreases in pollutant concentration may have been a result of the dilution by coarser and relatively less polluted sediment that was mobilized and transported into the Upper Mississippi River from its tributaries or from mainstem locations upstream but outside of the sampling area.

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  1. U.S. Geological Survey, MS 413, Box 25046, Denver Federal Center, Lakewood, Colorado, 80225-0046, USA

    John A. Moody, John F. Sullivan & Howard E. Taylor

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  1. John A. Moody
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  2. John F. Sullivan
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Correspondence to John A. Moody.

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Moody, J.A., Sullivan, J.F. & Taylor, H.E. Effects of the Flood of 1993 on the Chemical Characteristics of Bed Sediments in the Upper Mississippi River. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 117, 329–351 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005143103441

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